After I finished writing the post below about Peri-Menopause Symptoms, I decided to click on over to amazon.com to see what books they had on the subject. I ordered three of them:
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About: Premenopause: Balance Your Hormones and Your Life from Thirty to Fifty by John R. Lee, Jesse Hanley, and Virginia Hopkins.

The Pause: Positive Approaches to Premenopause and Menopause by Lonnie Barbach

Medical Management of Menopause and Premenopause by Winifred Berg Cutler and C.R. Garcia.
I will report back my thoughts and/or findings on the books as soon as I finish them. If you have …read more

Oy – such controversy in Hormone Replacement Therapy.
I am not ready for this – yet. But I will be soon. My cycles are not what they used to be, and I have an occasional hot flash, and night sweats. But I suppose I will need to make a decision with my doctor was to when and if HRT is right for me.
So, which are better? Bioidentical Hormones or Synthetic Hormones? And what the heck is the difference in the first place?
This is an important decision, and like I said, one that only you and your doctor can make. I think …read more

Every year, on our birthdays, we are always reminded that is time to make the yearly Doctor appointments. There is the physical from the primary care Doctor, the annual Pap Smear from the Gynecologist, the Mammogram, and if applicable, the colonoscopy, bone density scans, etc.
This year, we are doing something different in my family. Today is my mother’s birthday. Her wish is for us all to make our Doctor’s appointments a little early this year. As we have been dealt with a devastating blow just two months ago when my brother was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme (a very aggressive, …read more

Geez – I feel like all I hear about is menopause this, and menopause that. I hear the words pre-menopause, premature menopause, perimenopase, and wondered exactly what they mean and how they differ.
So I turned to The North American Menopause Society for some answers, in which they explain the basics.
Menopause: A normal, natural event—defined as the final menstrual period and usually confirmed when a woman has missed her periods for 12 consecutive months (in the absence of other obvious causes). Menopause is associated with reduced functioning of the ovaries due to aging, resulting in lower levels of estrogen and other …read more

Seriously – pre-menopause sucks. I am growing strange little hairs in places that I never have before.
For instance, I have a very thick, wiry hair growing out on my collarbone. Strange. I am afraid to pluck it or wax it, so I am just keeping it short by trimming it a few times a week. Then there are the strangely long hairs growing in my eyebrows almost overnight. And plucking these babies hurt. They really hurt. And the long ones are thicker and darker than the normal eyebrow hairs. And the gray hair – these are popping up everywhere – …read more

The biker buddy adventure comedy Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence as middle-aged men who decide to confront their collective midlife male-menopause crisis by hopping onto the back of Harleys and taking a road trip, was panned by critics who reviewed it. However, Wild Hogs surprised industry analysts when it rode to the top as an overwhelming hit with moviegoers this weekend.
According to Media By Numbers ticket sales tally for the weekend, no other movie came close. Wild Hogs sold $38 million dollars worth of tickets, Zodiac $13.1 million, Ghost Rider $11.5 million, …read more

You have been told all of your life to drink more water and it has never been more important than now. If you skin was on the dry side in your younger years, it’s going to be worse now. And while I’m writing this with women in mind, there is nothing stopping men from including more water in their diet either. It might not taste as good as a nice hot cup of coffee, but it has to be better for you. I read somewhere that for every cup of coffee you drink, you are supposed to drink two cups …read more

“When I first heard the word perimenopause I had no idea what it meant. Now that I’m entering this phase of my life, the several years that precede full-on menopause, I have a much greater understanding.
Essentially, perimenopause is the lead up to menopause which is primarily defined by coming to the end of your period. Unlike when your period started (on that fateful day in grade eight, while you were doing cartwheels in the playground and your friend Paul suggested that you needed to go and talk to the teacher) menopause takes it’s sweet time to set in. So welcome …read more

You just never know when it’s going to hit. Every woman experiences different symptoms or lack there of, so you had better brush up. You just might recognize one of these signs that you are on your way.
“Changing levels of estrogen and progesterone can cause a variety of symptoms. You may have little or no trouble with hot flashes or other signs of menopause.”
Fingers crossed that you fall into the category of… no big deal at all. Other than the occasional biting off of people’s heads, I’m good!
The books below are available through Amazon and deal with the …read more

“She’s been standing on the balls of her feet for 47 years. Decking herself out in whatever get-up Mattel threw at her, from rock star to waitress to doctor, Barbie’s sucked herself into an inhuman big-breasts-wee-waist shape and kept company with Ken, her “handsome steady,” the guy doll with nonremovable shorts.
Five WomanSage members — all professionals in their fields — formed a volunteer Barbie makeover faculty and uncovered the real Barbie hiding beneath her vapid, clothes-obsessed public image.”
And you won’t believe what they have come up with. For all of you who have ever resented that 24 inch waist, you …read more